I stayed here in May 2007 for a few nights to attend a nearby wedding. My stay got off to a rocky start as my first room and in fact the entire hallway smelled of varnish, so strongly that both my traveling companion and I immediately got dizzy and developed headaches. We were transferred to another room on another floor as a result. This one had a view of the dumpster, had a roach in the room and had a mold problem in the bathroom. We complained and were moved yet again to another room. This one was more acceptable although nothing too remarkable. I've given the hotel 2 stars in my review because while the rooms were very run down, the pool area was quite nice, the waitstaff/ reception staff were attentive, and I thought the breakfast had a wide, decent selection. This place needs serious renovations though... it seems they're aware of this, hence the reason they were varnishing, but they have a long way to go.

My worst hotel experience.
I had to transfer to 3 different rooms within 24 hours.

I arrived at 9PM. Tired, sleepy and with an 8AM conference the next day, i was looking forward on a good night sleep.

Hotel checkin was okay, smooth. But there was no bellboy to help me bring my luggage upstairs or even a hotel staff to assist me where my room is. There was even no bellboy who helped me bring my luggage from my taxi to the reception area.

And this was suppose to be a 5 star hotel ???

Anyways, they gave me a room on the third floor. With bars and restaurants around, the room wasn't sound proof. You can hear the band playing. Or even the noise on the lobby area.

And this was suppose to be a 5 star hotel ??? So, i called frontdesk and asked to be transferred to another room.

The next day, shower was working but my piss has more running water than the hotel's shower. Picture this, i even had to rinse my hair with shampoo on the bathroom sink. Water was really running low from the shower.

And this was suppose to be a 5 star hotel ??? So, i called frontdesk and asked to be transferred to another room.

I informed the manager about this and they transfered me to another room (again). Well, there is water from the showers this time but its really low and thus will take you more time to finish your bath. The room is just not worth the rate i'm paying.

I don't know if the hotel's water system is that bad or i just got the bad rooms. Or if their bell boys are running low and cannot service all guests. Or if their staff at the lobby are really not helping guests on luggages.

In fairness, i had a good breakfast buffet and lunch buffet at the hotel.

Anyways, I didn't bother to call frontdesk anymore to change rooms the fourth time. I booked a room in mariott the next day.

I started booking my father and I's hotel arrangements 3 days
prior to staying. At first, the hotel website said there were no available rooms but after double checking again later in the day, there were rooms available. Since it was so last minute I booked a superior room at $160 a night but I think they go as low as $95 or so so do your research and try to book ahead of time.

I wasn't sure where to stay and I did some research here on tripadvisor. At first I was going to do a Mactan resort type place but the resorts didn't seem modern enough so I tried for anything in the city. Ended up that a lot of hotels were fully booked for the weekend. Fortunately waterfront cebu city had rooms so I just booked here and crossed my fingers.

We ended up wanting to arrive a day earlier so I had to make a seperate booking online which was kind of annoying. I couldn't even go through the hotel directly to modify my reservation - if you book online everything stays online. So b/c of that we had a standard room for the first night and then our existing reservation of a superior room for the next two days.

Upon arriving, we were greeted by two bellboys who took our luggage. We had to go through a security checkpoint right at the front door and then proceed to the resevations desk. The lobby is massive with really high celings, towering alm trees and two seperate seating areas of sofas, seats, and tables for eating or lounging. A 20+ ft christmas tree stood in the center complete with presents and nutcracker statues. It was amazing.

Check-in was fairly quick and we tried to see if they could combine our two seperate reservations and put us in one room for all three nights . IT was a no go so we checked into our standard room. It was so-so...at first glance, fairly typical room but upon closer inspection, you start to notice a rush of details. The shower/bathroom was not inviting at all. the tiles kind of mildewy - thought that i'd might have to use flip flops in the shower. the beds were ok and the tv old. Despite all this, we were staying in the province for the past week so this was "luxury" for us so we just made do. We returned to the hotel about 5 hours later and my father spoke to a different reservations clerk and managed to upgrade the room so that we were now in a superior room for all three nights.

The difference between the two rooms was night and day. Dark wood ratan furniture with modern beige complimenting comforters. the bathroom was fantastic with a new fixtures and cool grey marble tiles. We had internet access (which unfortunately did not work! but there is free wi-fi access in the lobby). It was great!

Service greatly exceeded my expectations. From the room attendants to bellboys to waitresses at any of the 8 restaurants - everybody is always friendly and says good morning or good afternoon m'am/sir. We had a reading light blow out in our room and an engineer was immediately sent up to fix it. He noticed another light was not working and fixed that too. We asked for a transformer and that was sent up immediately as well.

Continental breakfast was included with our room and that was AMAZING. Definitely recommend eating at Uno as the food options are endless and all fresh and good. We had two dinners at Mizu the sushi restaurant and that was equally good. The lounge restaurant, Treff, definitely fit the new york city lounge look with loungy, electronic music and modern furnishings (with a sexy outdoor patio with leather couches and tables etc) but I would stay away from the food menu and stick to the drinks.

All in all, I would highly recommend waterfront but only if your budget allows for superior room or above. Great service, accomodations, and location (across street from ayala center) makes this a great choice for a stay in Cebu City.

I have been staying at the Waterfront, once or twice a year since 1998. It needs the re-vamp that the are presently undergoing if they want to compete with Marco Polo or the new Parklane who offer similar rates. The rooms are clean but the bathrooms need new showers fitted, in Standard rooms only a shower (no bath) is available. The price is inclusive of a buffet breakfast and although there is plenty of good cold food selection I found the hot food section a strange mix and I could not fathom out what nationality they were trying to cater for. There were rissoles in a thick gravy, fried beef in mushroom sauce, sweet and sour fish available most days along with rice and fried potatoes. The only bacon was streaky and cooked to a crisp, impossible to eat with a fork as it would just disintegrate and had to be scooped up. The hot food was really only warm as there are ceiling air-con units so the food warmers are fighting a losing battle against these. Eggs could be cooked to your liking but staying for 15 nights became boring after a while. This was probably my last stay there but I will miss the liveliness of the place.